Windows XP Stabs at Pirates, Wounds Users
Have you ever wondered where your computer's soul resides? Is it in the CPU, aptly called the brains of the PC, or maybe the hard disk, which is as close to a heart as you can get, pumping data to the other components? Or perhaps it's the motherboard, which provides the skeleton and musculature necessary for everything else to function? Or maybe the soul of a computer is more than the sum of its parts, and the changing of a single piece can result in an entirely new entity?
No, this column hasn't turned from technology to philosophy -- the question relates to Windows XP and its registration processes. Microsoft's new operating system attacks software piracy from an interesting angle: Instead of making CDs more difficult to copy or instituting more complex product keys, Microsoft has laid down a law named Product Activation. Each installation of Windows XP will take a digital fingerprint of your hardware configuration and send it to Microsoft's authentication servers, which will respond with a unique activation key which will allow the OS to run past its original 30-day time limit.
If you change or upgrade any of the main components of your computer, or buy a new "blank" PC, a call to Microsoft support will be required to reactivate your purchased operating system. Thankfully, the gurus at Microsoft have not instituted this copy-protection scheme with business licenses, but the home and SOHO customer bases will still have to contend with its many potential pitfalls.
Okay, you're thinking, "I'm not a pirate; I buy all my software. So I won't have a problem, right?" Well, that depends on how long you intend to use Windows XP, how many computers you have, and if you plan to upgrade or change your current hardware in any way.
If you're the type of PC buff who rarely or never calls tech support, it'd be a good idea to check out the current support agreement for your OS. For most current Microsoft products, this amounts to two free calls or troubleshooting incidents during the product's support period, and then paid support thereafter (if either is exceeded, you pay $35 per support incident). While the final support documents for Win XP are not publicly available yet, remember that personal phone support is an expensive proposition for Microsoft, and that no operating system is supported indefinitely.
Many home and SOHO users also own both a desktop and a notebook or some other secondary computer. Under most of today's licensing and installation agreements, installing a piece of software on both PCs is standard business practice, providing you adhere to the basic clause (quoting Microsoft's previous end-user license agreement) that "a license for the software may not be shared or used concurrently on different computers." This is business as usual for most of us -- the software license is portable if you adhere to the "single concurrent use" section in the license agreement.
While Office XP will still be installable on two PCs, the rules change for Windows XP: A separate license will be required for each hardware configuration on which you install the operating system. Presumably both your next desktop and next notebook will have a licensed copy of Win XP preinstalled as part of the purchase price, but Product Activation should be a real worry for the hardware upgrade crowd.
I usually upgrade components every four to six months, and have been known to reload Win 98 SE or Win 2000 several times during a particularly difficult install. With Windows XP, as long as your hardware remains stable, you should be able to reinstall the OS an unlimited number of times. But if you change your configuration with a new CPU, motherboard, or other significant upgrade, then get ready to phone Microsoft support for your activation code.
You don't plan any substantial upgrades? Never say never when it comes to PC components. I've had plenty of "my new PC will have more power than I'll ever need" buddies hitting me up for CPU or 3D graphics card upgrade recommendations a year or so after their initial purchase.
I'm Picking Up Bad Vibrations
I've had two personal experiences with this sort of hardware authentication scheme, both of them bad, and each involving software packages purchased without any prior knowledge of their underlying copy-protection designs. One was a piece of online auction-management software, which required the use of a product key and subsequent unlock code. This was all fine and dandy, and the software worked as advertised.
Until, at least, I performed another of my regular system upgrades -- and bingo, I got a brand-new product key code which negated my purchased unlock code. One irate e-mail and three working days later, I received a reply basically confirming my suspicions; the software took a "snapshot" of my system, producing a product key based on that hardware.
The second occurrence was even worse, and involved a home inventory management system that used the exact same copy-protection mechanism. Again, after my system upgrade and reinstall, the software produced a new hardware key, so I contacted the company. This time, after my e-mails went unanswered for a few days, I discovered that the company's new owner was no longer supporting the product. I could either pay for a different version of the same package, or I could take a long walk off a short pier.
The common thread in these hardware-based software protection stories is that problems didn't occur until well after the initial install period, which gave me the illusion that there were no potential problems to contend with.
My main concerns with hardware activation relate to where control resides and who, literally, has their finger on my system's Start button. When I purchase anything, be it a physical product or piece of software, I feel I should have reasonable control over its use. In my previous experiences with hardware activation licenses, I could feel control slipping from my grasp -- I was the customer, but if the company decided to drop support, decline my reactivation request, or even institute a surcharge for a new unlock code, what could I do?
If these sound like outlandish ideas for vertical-niche applications, let alone operating systems, they're all well within the domain of Microsoft's current Windows support agreements. I have never contacted Microsoft support for any home computing issue, nor do I expect to, and my work-related support inquiries have served to solidify this resolve. At $35 per incident, home users whose sole contact with Microsoft has been through the Windows Update Web site could be in for a rude awakening when they have Product Activation issues concerning their year-old copy of Windows XP.
Overall, Microsoft seems to be changing from conventional software licenses toward more of a surcharge atop existing hardware costs. More important, the entire focus of Product Activation seems to risk alienating the important "early adopter" market -- the users who line up at Best Buy for their copy of the newest Windows software, or get the latest CPU and graphics card the minute they become available. Any business model that punishes these influential buyers will have a tougher time achieving mass-market penetration.
This drastic shift from the proven "single concurrent user" licensing design to one directly tied to a PC's physical architecture is a seriously flawed move, and one that Microsoft will regret over time. Most current businesses have already determined that Windows 2000 is their best bet, while the majority of current home and SOHO users will likely stick with what they have.
New computer sales are depressed nowadays, with no real prospect of improving over the short term. This is a very risky time for Microsoft to be betting the farm on an unproven, online authentication scheme -- especially when PC proponents are desperately trying to make these beasts more "user friendly."
What's truly amazing is that Microsoft is promoting Windows XP as the harbinger of a new wave of PC purchases or the start of a hardware sales boom. Perhaps Microsoft thinks new users will find reinstalling Win XP so difficult that they'll just think the darn thing is broken, and head out to buy a new copy?
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